Indians Prospect Insider

It was an interesting night for the Indians' affiliates, as two teams won thanks to extra-inning homers. The headliners include a lefty starter that has re-emerged as an intriguing option for the Indians, another "toolsy" player who has re-emerged after a career so far mired by injury, and finishes with a closer that should be in Cleveland. Find out who these three are, as well as the two that won their games with the long-ball for both Columbus and Akron as Jim Pete brings another edition of Around the Farm.

The legend of Jesus Aguilar continues to grow. The 23-year-old native of Maracay, Venezuela, who can seem to do no wrong for the Akron Aeros this season, ripped a line-drive, solo home run into the left field stands in the top of the 10th inning Saturday night, lifting the Aeros to a thrilling, 3-2 win over the Harrisburg Senators at Metro Bank Park.

The Lake County Captains (14-14, 36-58) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back as they snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits (15-12, 53-43) on Saturday night.

The Carolina Mudcats fell behind early, and despite a fervent rally fell to the Winston Salem Dash 8-7 on Saturday night. The loss drops Carolina’s record to 13-14 in the second half and 35-62 overall.

An old axiom is that it’s not always wise to believe “conventional wisdom”. This is certainly accurate when applied to the 2013 edition of the Cleveland Indians. Starting with the hot-stove period over the seemingly endless winter, and throughout the spring, nearly all of the beat writers, baseball pundits, and sports radio personalities were lukewarm about the Tribe’s prospects for the upcoming season. DJ Sebastian wants fans to forget conventional wisdom and enjoy the ride with this team.

The AZL Indians put together arguably their most impressive victory of the season Friday night, as they dominated the AZL Mariners for nine innings and won comfortably 10-2. AZL Indians starter Sean Brady and first baseman Matt LaPorta set the tone early, allowing the Tribe to take control and never look back.

If anyone has had more tough luck in the Indians rotation this season, it has to be lefty Scott Kazmir. As strong and inspiring as his comeback to the major leagues has been, he’s also had his share of misfortune on the mound. Friday night was no different as Kazmir pitched shutout baseball, but botched plays in the field led to the game-tying runs scoring. Join the IBI's Jake Dungan as he gives his 'Second Thoughts' on a frustrating loss.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels (19-8, 59-36) used two home runs by right fielder Adam Brett Walker and a complete game from southpaw Brett Lee to defeat the Lake County Captains (13-14, 36-59) 4-1 on Friday night in front of 5,557 fans at Classic Park.

Coming off a 14 inning marathon win on Thursday night, the Carolina Mudcats showed no signs of a hangover, defeating the Winston Salem Dash 4-0 Friday night at Five County Stadium. The win brings the Mudcats’ second half record back to .500 at 13-13, and 35-61 overall.

The Cleveland Indians fell victim to a pair of defensive miscues, which proved costly in a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Errors and botched plays by Chisenhall, Cabrera and Swisher led to the Twins scoring three runs (two unearned), spoiling a dominant start by Tribe southpaw Scott Kazmir. Join the IBI's Stephanie Metzger as she recaps a frustrating loss by the Tribe.

Everyone was back in action on Friday night from the big league team on down to the rookie level team in Arizona. Matt LaPorta continues his rehab in Arizona and had a big night, Francisco Lindor continues to impress in the early going at Akron, and Diasuke Matsuzaka seems to have figured things out in Columbus. All of that and more in another trip around the farm....

Triple-A Columbus infielder Cord Phelps has grown up in the Indians system and has continued to improve every year in different aspects of his game. While he has battled a few injuries this season, when he has played he has performed well. A new challenge the Indians threw his way this season was his first exposure to first base and left field, and the IBI's Adrienne Robbins recently caught up with him to see how the transition to both positions is going.

Jim Pete and Jim Piascik both continue their discussion about their top 20 prospect rankings, started this past Tuesday. The Jims utilized information obtained at their own affiliates, as well as took information from the rest of the affiliate reporters across the IBI spectrum. Here is part two of that list, as well as the two Jims' e-mail chain as they justified their rankings to each other.

The first half of the season saw the Crushers achieve a record of 25-25, which isn’t a bad mark considering they were as many as six games under .500 in the month of June. The IBI's Kyle Ferrara gets us set for the second half of the Crushers season.

Zach McAllister seems to be ready to reclaim his place in the starting rotation this coming Tuesday after a successful start on Thursday night in Columbus. Can McAllister help solidify this rotation enough to allow the Indians to avoid the tough July trade market? In doing so, could he also help right the ship to a struggling bullpen? Jim Pete hijacks Orbiting for One Night Only with his take on an Orbanek favorite.

The second half of the season kicks off tonight! This means that the games are going to increasingly become more important as the weeks go by and the Indians look to keep pace with the Detroit Tigers in American League Central. One aspect of the team that has been consistent this season has been the offense, and the IBI's Michael Goodman looks at how each position player has performed to date and provides his expectations for the second half.

The Cleveland organization got homer-happy Thursday night, as Lake County led the way with four home runs on their own. None of those shots could overshadow what happened with Carolina, however, as the team hit their first walk-off home run of the season. To find out walked off for the Mudcats and everything else you need to know about the night in the minor leagues, join Jim Piascik and go Around The Farm.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!